The present invention relates to the treatment of wounds using ultrasound and laser energy. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of spraying liquid drugs to the wound surface using ultrasonic waves for delivering drugs, killing bacteria, cleansing a surface, and stimulating healthy tissue cells and treating wound with laser energy.
Ultrasonic waves and laser beams have been widely used in medical applications, including diagnostics and therapy, as well as many industrial applications. Diagnostic use of ultrasound waves includes using ultrasonic waves to detect underlying structures in an object or human tissue. In this method, an ultrasonic transducer is placed in contact with the tissue (or object) via a coupling medium and high frequency (1-10 MHz) ultrasonic waves are directed into the tissue. Upon contact with the various underlying structures, the waves are reflected back to a receiver adjacent the transducer. By comparing the signals of the ultrasonic wave as sent with the reflected ultrasonic wave as received, an image of the underlying structure can be produced. This technique is particularly useful for identifying boundaries between components of tissue and can be used to detect irregular masses, tumors, and the like.
Three therapeutic medical uses of ultrasound waves include aerosol mist production, contact physiotherapy and soft tissue ablation. The ultrasound contact therapy procedure may cause a patient significant discomfort and/or pain and skin may appear raw and damaged. Aerosol mist production makes use of a nebulizer or inhaler to produce an aerosol mist for creating a humid environment and delivering drug to the lungs.
Ultrasonic nebulizers operate by the passage of ultrasound waves of sufficient intensity through a liquid, the waves being directed at an air-liquid interface of the liquid from a point underneath or within the liquid. Liquid particles are ejected from the surface of the liquid into the surrounding air following the disintegration of capillary waves produced by the ultrasound. This technique can produce a very fine dense fog or mist. Aerosol mists produced by ultrasound are preferred because a smaller particle size of the aerosol can be obtained with the ultrasonic waves. One of the major shortcomings of ultrasonic inhalers and nebulizers is that there is no directed aerosol to the target. An air stream is then required to direct the aerosol to the target, but this decreases the efficiency of ultrasound.
Ultrasonic sprayers, produced by Sonic and Materials Inc., Misonix Inc., Sono-Tek Inc., Zevex International, Inc., and others, operate by passing liquid through a central orifice of an ultrasound instrument-tip. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,765,606, 4,659,014, 5,104,042, 4,930,700, 4,153,201, 4,655,393, 5,516,043, 5,835,678, 5,879,364 and 5,843,139.
Ultrasonic inhalers and drug delivery systems from Medisonic USA, Inc. 3M, Siemens GmbH, The Procter and Gamble Company, Sheffield Pharmaceuticals, Aradigm, Inc., and others, operate by atomizing liquid using piezoceramic film. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,294,407, 5,347,998, 5,520,166, 5,960,792, 6,095,141, 6,102,298, 6,098,620, 6,026,808 and 6,106,547.
Medical usage of lasers can be divided in several groups: laser blood flow meters (Doppler), tissue ablation, therapy, revasculation and treatment devices, surgery devices, diagnostic device, and others. Medical laser devices from HGM Medical Lasers Inc., Level Laser Medical Systems, Coherent, Inc., ESC Medical Systems, PLC Medical Systems, Inc., Palomar Medical, Altus Medical, Tissue Medical Lasers, Inc. and others, appropriate for the therapy, dermatology, surgery, gynecology, urology, dentistry, veterinary and other applications, operate by atomizing liquid using piezoceramic film. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,374,266, 5,527,350, 5,616,140, 5,707,403, 5,658,323, 6,027,495 and 5,989,245.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method and device for treating wounds.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved method and device for treating wounds using a combination of different energy sources, such as ultrasound and laser.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and device for delivering a drug, killing bacteria, cleansing a surface and stimulating healthy tissue cell growth.
It is yet a further object of the invention to treat a wound by spraying the surface of the wound with aerosol mist produced by ultrasonic waves and radiating by laser beam.
These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the discussion below.
The present invention is a method and device using a combination of ultrasonic waves and laser beams to treat wounds. More particularly, the device of the invention creates, directs and delivers ultrasound liquid aerosol spray and a laser beam to the wound surface for delivering drugs, killing bacteria, cleansing the surface, stimulating healthy tissue cells and treating the wound with ultrasound and laser energy. The method of the invention for treating wounds involves the use of a combination of a continuous or pulsed ultrasound waves and a beam of pulsed, scanned or gated continuous wave laser or incoherent radiation.
More particularly the method of the invention comprises producing a directed spray of liquid particles produced by contact of the liquid with a free end surface of an ultrasonic transducer, and the particle spray beam in combination with a laser beam are directed onto the wound. According to the method of the present invention a combination of ultrasonic waves, laser beams and energized medicines (highly activated by ultrasonic waves and laser beams) destroys the surface bacteria and results in a higher level of disinfection by the energized liquids as compared to ordinarily applied liquids. Additionally, the ultrasound and laser energy also stimulate healthy cell growth to aid in granulization and epithelization of healing tissue. Other applications of the method of the invention include non-medical uses, such as cleansing, sterilizing and coating surfaces of objects and food with various agents.
The method of the present invention offers an approach that may re-establish use of some traditional antibiotics and presents a method for fighting bacteria without antibiotics when necessary. The effect of the method of the present invention in highly activating antibiotics may allow some traditional antibiotics to overcome bacteria which have become resistant to that antibiotic. Moreover, independent of the energizing effect on antibiotics, the ultrasonic waves and laser beams which are applied in the method of the present invention also directly physically destroy bacteria. This combined effect has been shown to significantly increase the healing of purulent infected wounds.
This method of wound treatment is particularly advantageous on wounds for which local topical application of a drug is desirable but contact with the wound must be avoided.
The method of the present invention also provides a system of non-contact drug delivery with a combination of laser and ultrasound energy. The wound treatment method is effective when applied to the surface of the wound whether the liquid sprayed is a drug, such as an antibiotic, antiseptic, or equivalent agent, oil, saline, water or a combination of any of the foregoing.
The overall concept of the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for wound treatment using a combination of different energy sources, such as a laser, ultrasound, electric current, magnetic field, ultraviolet, microwaves, radio frequency, and or equivalent sources, as will be apparent to one skilled in this art.
While the invention has been described in general terms, the construction and obvious advantages of the device and method of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of the various specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.